About Nia:
Nia (pronounced Nee-ah), was created by co-founders Debbie Rosas and Carlos Rosas in the early 1980s. Nia is a dynamic fitness and lifestyle practice combining nine powerful movement modalities and philosophies: Martial Arts (Tai Chi, Tae Kwon Do, and Aikido), Dance Arts (Jazz, Modern, and Duncan), and Healing Arts (the work of Moshe Feldenkrais, the Alexander Technique, and Yoga). Combined, these movement forms bring the body, mind, emotions and spirit to wellness. Through blending both choreography and freeform movement into 60-minute aerobic fitness odysseys, Nia emphasizes not only physical conditioning, but also creativity, community, self-discovery, and individual expression. Practiced barefoot to music, each person is invited to move at his or her own level of intensity, adapting movement to their body potential at any given moment.
With a deep philosophy rooted in celebrating one's body and expressing one's uniqueness, Nia delivers a joyful, invigorating, and powerful life practice for all ages. The foundation of Nia is the pleasure principle: if it feels good, keep doing it! All fitness and experience levels are welcome! Nia is designed for any body. It is ageless and limitless, transformational and effective for every person everywhere.
It’s time to let your inner child, dancer, artist, athlete, warrior, seeker, and guru come out to play!
It’s time to let your inner child, dancer, artist, athlete, warrior, seeker, and guru come out to play!
Watch Nia in action:
About Nia 5 Stages:
The Nia 5 Stages is an integrative practice based on the five stages of human development: embryonic, creeping, crawling, standing and walking. When the body moves through the Nia 5 Stages, the body, mind, emotions, and spirit naturally realign, unify and integrate, leaving a greater sense of wholeness, health and well-being. Developed as a practice, these stages lead to changes that improve one's physical comfort, ability to move efficiently, and improvement in whole body functioning and posture.Watch Nia 5 Stages:
About Nia: Moving to Heal:
Nia: Moving to Heal is a gentler Nia class designed to stimulate your body to direct its resources toward self-healing and feeling better. This beautiful class format is designed for people seeking ways to feel better in their bodies during illness, injury or in times of tenderness and unease. Enjoy easy-to-follow choreography in a supportive atmosphere of safety and trust. Beginners and Nia regulars are welcome.About Stretch and Fly Yoga Dance:
Stretch and Fly Yoga Dance, developed by me and Liziah Richards () is a unique empowering movement practice that combines simple dance moves and yoga. Experience original choreography that blends flowing movement and dynamic stillness.Each Stretch and Fly Yoga Dance routine has a theme intended to evoke various expressions of our human experience. Some of these routines include: the Dance of the Warrior, Dance of the Heart, Dance of the Chakras, Dance of Radiant Light and Dance of Release.
The four invitations of Stretch and Fly Yoga Dance are to cultivate a: 1. Strong and Flexible Body, 2. Calm and Focused Mind, 3. Receptive and Expressive Heart and 4. Confident and Joyful Spirit.
Classes are 75 minutes long. Class begins dancing and moving with bare feet connected to the ground and ends on the mat.
Watch a sample of Stretch and Fly Yoga Dance:
ArcanaDance
ArcanaDance, created by Jennifer Lucero-Earle, is a transformative somatic divination practice that awakens and attunes the oracle of the body with the archetypal wisdom of the tarot. As we dance the archetypes of the tarot, we access and heal old stories of fragmentation and StoryShift, choreographing new stories that bring us the clarity, focus, and the surrender needed to become whole again. Come explore a new way to enter the tarot, by moving beyond the thinking mind into full embodiment of the oracle through movement. Your body knows what to do. No tarot or dance experience, skill or enthusiasm is required. Simply enter with a curiosity of tarot and dance and your body will do the rest. ArcanaDance is offered in a one-on-one forma as well as for groups, series classes, workshops, and retreats. Learn more at:Links:
Nia Seattle:Nia Headquarters:
Acknowledgment to my teachers and community:
My fellow teachers at The Dance Space in Greenwood: Susan Tate, Jena Hennessey, Gretchen Musgrove and Ann Nicolaysen:Nancy Hammett -
My first Nia teacher. Nancy sparked the fire in my soul for Nia.
Dara McKinley:
Dara was my very first Nia teacher in Seattle. She’s a fellow Puerto Rican from the Bronx. Imagine my delight when I walked into her class! Her classes are pure pleasure!
Mollia Jensen -
A fellow teacher who I adore. I was a Mollia student at one time and look forward to collaborating with her in the future.
Liziah Richards -
Co-creator of Stretch and Fly Yoga Dance, Liziah is one of my most dear friends, is a stunning soulful mover, a talented therapist, and my favorite yoga teacher in Seattle.
Delilah Flynn of Visionary Belly Dance -
I had the great pleasure of co-facilitating a deeply healing and joyful Nia and Belly Dance retreat with Delilah at Kalani Oceanside Retreat in Hawaii in February 2012. Delilah is a trail blazing visionary for the art of American belly dancing and she has inspired me to delve more deeply into belly dance.